To stick with a stock Intel HSF or to try something else in a mITX NAS.

I'm building a personal NAS (ZFS RAIDZ on FreeBSD) using an Intel S1200KP mITX motherboard, Celeron G540 and Lian Li PC-Q25B case. I would like this to be as quiet as possible. To that end, I'm wondering about CPU cooling.

Since it's just a NAS, the CPU will not often be pushed very hard. So the stock HSF will provide plenty of cooling, but I'm concerned with noise. In my desktop system, the stock fan became annoying enough that I installed a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ with a couple of Nexus 120mm fans. It's very quiet now.

But if I want to replace the HSF in this build, I'm under some rigid constraints. For one thing, the maximum overall height of any solution would be 80mm as the PSU is mounted right above the motherboard. This isn't a huge problem, and I was looking at the Scythe Shuriken Rev.B SCSK-1100 for a while, since it's only $30. But going by the measurements (106mm x 116mm), it looks like it would definitely hang over the PCI-E slot, which will have a Supermicro HBA card installed. I'll be using Kingston RAM without heatsinks, so that part shouldn't be much of an issue.

I'd prefer to keep this around the $30 range or lower if possible. Does anyone know of an alternative that will fit both the height and the width requirements?

The Celeron wont generate much heat I'd think so the fans shouldn't wind up too much.

What about the stock cooler from your desktop cpu? If it's from a Intel S1155 i5/i7 it would be a free option to you. Google shows Celeron as all aluminum and others as copper inserted which would be more effecient and most likely allow you to keep the fan speed down.

What about the stock cooler from your desktop cpu? If it's from a Intel S1155 i5/i7 it would be a free option to you. Google shows Celeron as all aluminum and others as copper inserted which would be more effecient and most likely allow you to keep the fan speed down.

I'll dig that one out and take a look. My desktop CPU is a Core i7 860 (Lynnfield/1156). Going by some product photos on various sites, it does look like it should have a copper core. But the fan had a whine even at lower speeds.

I wonder also if using my own TIM with the stock cooler might do something similar. I still have most of a tube of Arctic Cooling MX-2 left from the other build.

Did you look at the XIGMATEK Durin D982? I'd think it would cool better than the stock cooler, it's low, and looks to have a small footprint.

Thanks. I have looked at that one, actually. If I were to use just the heatsink, it would fit, but the heatsink and fan together are too high (65mm + 20mm). I've considered something passive, since I'll have a 120mm fan in the PSU right above that space, but I'm skeptical it'd work properly.

Thanks. I have looked at that one, actually. If I were to use just the heatsink, it would fit, but the heatsink and fan together are too high (65mm + 20mm). I've considered something passive, since I'll have a 120mm fan in the PSU right above that space, but I'm skeptical it'd work properly.

The following link is from Ximatek and is the spec sheet for the product. If you scroll all the way down it gives the dimensions of the heatsinkl with the fan on it....Less than 65mm it looks like to me. Most likely the best you'll find that will not be fighting too hard for some airflow. The 3 way space constraint is hard to stay in without using the stock Intel coolers.

If you look at photos of the unit and compare the width of the fan with the height of the it the specs look believable to me. No way is it as tall as it is wide....Not even close it looks like to me anyways.

Do not use the Intel standard its quite loud. I also tried a low profile hsf from Akasa which was dreadful. My current one is also louder than I would like. All in I haven't found one I can recommend, small, fast, quiet choose 2!

The following link is from Ximatek and is the spec sheet for the product. If you scroll all the way down it gives the dimensions of the heatsinkl with the fan on it....Less than 65mm it looks like to me. Most likely the best you'll find that will not be fighting too hard for some airflow. The 3 way space constraint is hard to stay in without using the stock Intel coolers.

If you look at photos of the unit and compare the width of the fan with the height of the it the specs look believable to me. No way is it as tall as it is wide....Not even close it looks like to me anyways.

Fair enough. It looks like 65mm was for the overall height. It's tough to say on the footprint, but it seems like the heatpipes would block the PCI-E slot. Perhaps rotated 90 degrees, they might fit, but they could block a DIMM.

Quote:

Originally Posted by capeconsultant

Noctua now makes a nice low rise unit. Forget the model, but it is very low. Noctua>Intel.

Do you mean the NH-L12? I remember coming across that before. With only the lower fan in use, the height would work. But like most other contenders, it seems it might block some slots. Also, it's $70, which is way more than I'd like to spend. It does seem like a pretty cool design, though.

Intel is not making it easy with this board layout. But I think the story is much the same for all LGA 1155 mITX boards.

The Celeron wont generate much heat I'd think so the fans shouldn't wind up too much.

I'd say try out the stock cooler first, and see how slow the BIOS is willing to spin the fan, and how willing you are to allow the CPU to run hot. FWIW at stock clocks (which is all that your setup will let you do) the CPU can safely run way up there in temperatures.

__________________The best way to future-proof is to save money and spend it on future products. (Ken g6)

I'd say try out the stock cooler first, and see how slow the BIOS is willing to spin the fan, and how willing you are to allow the CPU to run hot. FWIW at stock clocks (which is all that your setup will let you do) the CPU can safely run way up there in temperatures.

The stock cooler at 100% is obnoxious, but below 50% it's really not bad, and you shouldn't need much to keep that chip cool.

Some thing like that xigmatek w/ the fan inverted to pull away from the board and out the psu would be my first choice. The psu intake being directly above the cpu seems to me to be a cluster**ck for stock airflow.

I'd say try out the stock cooler first, and see how slow the BIOS is willing to spin the fan, and how willing you are to allow the CPU to run hot. FWIW at stock clocks (which is all that your setup will let you do) the CPU can safely run way up there in temperatures.

This is my plan. I might try the stock HSF from my desktop's i7, since it should have a copper core. The Celeron is the last bit to arrive and then I can start the build. Woo.

I pulled out my two Intel coolers last night... my 2500K's cooler has a copper base, the G620 has an aluminum base... I'll be using the 2500 cooler for the G620 in my HTPC setup. Just for fun, I'll probably strip the Intel TIM off and put AS5 or something better on it....

Just for you guys. They compared the aluminum one to the copper/aluminum. Basically one bundled with dual core versus one bundled with quad core. The quad core unit with the copper core was better, allowing the fan to run 200RPM lower with similar thermals.

Note that they set the BIOS to keep the CPU at 45°C (113°F) which is lukewarm at best. I would have set the BIOS to something closer to 70-80°C and let the dang thing be as silent as it can be.

__________________The best way to future-proof is to save money and spend it on future products. (Ken g6)

Just for you guys. They compared the aluminum one to the copper/aluminum. Basically one bundled with dual core versus one bundled with quad core. The quad core unit with the copper core was better, allowing the fan to run 200RPM lower with similar thermals.

Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zap

Note that they set the BIOS to keep the CPU at 45°C (113°F) which is lukewarm at best. I would have set the BIOS to something closer to 70-80°C and let the dang thing be as silent as it can be.

I'll have to play with this setting to see what sounds best. But I'm hesitant to set it so high. Couldn't that reduce the lifespan of the chip?

I'll have to play with this setting to see what sounds best. But I'm hesitant to set it so high. Couldn't that reduce the lifespan of the chip?

70°C? Yes, lifespan will probably be reduced to two decades instead of indefinitely. So if you plan to still be using this PC in the year 2033, by all means keep the CPU at room temperature.

On a more serious note, yes I am pulling numbers out of my ass and trying to be funny, but the FACT remains that Intel designed their CPUs to be able to handle much higher temperatures than even 70°C while still warrantying them for 3 years. I mentioned the actual temperature of 70°C because that was the maximum that the motherboard I just used allowed. That doesn't mean the CPU always runs at that temperature. Indeed when idling (it was a Pentium G620) the CPU was running somewhere in the 30-40°C range and the minimum that BIOS seems to want to run the fan is around 1050RPM.

__________________The best way to future-proof is to save money and spend it on future products. (Ken g6)